Schwantz to be Official Ambassador for CoTA

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Kevin Schwantz and Circuit of the Americas have amicably settled their legal issues and now Schwantz will serve as an official ambassador for CoTA.

Circuit of The Americas (COTA) and motorcycle racing legend Kevin Schwantz have amicably settled their legal differences and have reached a new agreement to collaboratively promote motorcycling racing at the Austin circuit and across the United States. Schwantz will serve as an official ambassador for COTA and work to promote the upcoming Red Bull Grand Prix of The Americas MotoGP™ event set for April 11-13, 2014.

“Kevin is a great champion and partnering with him gives us an opportunity to learn from his deep knowledge, as well as continue to celebrate his accomplishments,” Circuit Chairman Bobby Epstein said. “Kevin and I have always shared the desire to see him be a part of COTA, and it's awesome to finally see it become a reality. A great American track and a great American champion in the same city can't be kept apart. As a result, casual riders, current racers, future stars and the fans all win.”

"I look forward to being the ambassador for two-wheel racing for COTA, especially as the 2014 MotoGP season begins and returns to Texas,” Schwantz said. “Grand prix motorcycle racing has been my life, and to help COTA market and promote that moving forward is exciting!"

As a COTA ambassador, Schwantz will play a prominent role in a variety of promotions for the upcoming Red Bull Grand Prix of The Americas event in April, including media availabilities and fan activities. For example, Schwantz will serve as Grand Marshal for the MotoGP race on Sunday, April 13, and will lead the parade laps scheduled for COTA’s personal seat license holders on Friday, April 11, between grand prix practice sessions.

Additionally, COTA will work with Schwantz to raise money for an important charity he supports, the Simoncelli Foundation, which was established in memory of Schwantz’s good friend, Marco Simoncelli, a MotoGP competitor from Italy who will be inducted into the MotoGP Hall of Fame as a MotoGP Legend this May. Simoncelli died after an accident during the 2011 Malaysian Grand Prix. Today through Friday, April 4, COTA will donate $1 for every ticket purchased for the Red Bull Grand Prix of The Americas to the Simoncelli Foundation, a nonprofit organization supporting humanitarian projects that benefit the disadvantaged.

"I am thankful for COTA's support of the Simoncelli Foundation, a charity that's important to all of us who knew Marco personally and fans that followed his career," Schwantz added. “Marco was a great competitor and a very special friend. Now racing fans everywhere can honor his memory and help a cause important to Marco by purchasing a ticket to Austin’s MotoGP race."

Tickets for the Red Bull Grand Prix of The Americas start at $39 and are available for purchase at www.circuitoftheamericas.com/motogp. Children ages 12 and under receive free general admission with a ticketed adult.

Terms of the legal settlement between COTA and Kevin Schwantz were not disclosed.

About Kevin Schwantz
One of the most popular motorcycle racers of all time, 1993 500cc Grand Prix World Champion Kevin Schwantz is one of just 20 riders to have earned the status of MotoGP Legend.

Born to parents who ran a Texas motorcycle shop, Schwantz learned to ride at a very young age, and he soon began competing in observed-trials events, where he developed a fine sense of balance. Unsatisfied with the slow speeds in trials, he quickly moved on to hare scrambles, flat track and motocross racing, but following a bad crash at a 1983 supercross race in Houston he began road racing in the competitive WERA series.

Schwantz immediately earned a reputation for riding any motorcycle at the absolute limit, and in 1984 he caught the attention of journalist/racer John Ulrich, who arranged a test ride with Yoshimura Suzuki. That led to a spot on the team in the AMA (American Motorcyclist Association) national series the following year, and even an appearance in a Japanese race at Suzuka, where Schwantz finished second.

Schwantz continued in the AMA for the next two years, although Suzuki also sent him to Europe on several occasions for wildcard appearances in the 500cc Grand Prix World Championship. Upon winning the AMA’s season-opening Daytona 200 in 1988, Schwantz was promoted to Suzuki’s grand prix team full time.

The late 1980s and early 1990s are generally considered to be the Golden Era of grand prix road racing, in which Schwantz had epic battles with his arch-rival Wayne Rainey and other motorcycling heroes like Eddie Lawson, Wayne Gardner and Mick Doohan. Schwantz soon attracted a legion of enthusiastic fans who were inspired by his charismatic personality, his aggressive style aboard a bike that was often slower than those of the competition, and his propensity for spectacular crashes.

Between 1989 and 1992, Schwantz finished the season fourth, second, third and again fourth in the final standings, while Rainey collected a trio of crowns. Finally, Schwantz landed the 500cc World Championship in 1993. An injury-plagued title defense saw him finish fourth, and the Texan participated in the first three races of the 1995 season before announcing his retirement from grand prix racing, at which point his racing number, 34, was also retired from grand prix competition. This was the first time in the history of the sport that a rider had been so honored.

Currently seventh on the list of premier-class grand prix race winners, with 25 victories, Schwantz remains a favorite with the fans, many of whom have benefited from his riding instruction at the respected Schwantz School. He was named to the AMA Motorcycle Hall of Fame in 1999 and the MotoGP Hall of Fame in 2000.

Still an active racer, Kevin entered the prestigious 2013 Suzuka 8 Hours with Yukio Kagayama and Noriyuki Haga, finishing on the podium. In June 2014, at the age of 50, Schwantz will return to the race with a special Yoshimura Suzuki “Legends Team” that will pair him with Satoshi Tsujimoto, with whom he finished on the podium in the 1986 Suzuka 8 Hours.

About Circuit of The Americas
Circuit of The Americas (COTA) in Austin, Texas, is the home of world championships and a world-class destination for premium sports and entertainment. COTA has been nominated as the 2014 “Sports Facility of the Year” by SportsBusiness Journal/Daily. The same publication named COTA’s annual marquee event, the FORMULA 1 UNITED STATES GRAND PRIX, “Sports Event of the Year” for 2013. Additionally, COTA is the new North American home for the summer edition of ESPN’s X Games. More than one million visitors come to COTA each year for events such as MotoGP™, United Sportscar Racing, the FIA World Endurance Championships, business and social functions, and more than 20 performances at the venue’s acclaimed Austin360 Amphitheater, winner of Pollstar’s “Best New Major Concert Venue” award for 2013. COTA’s 1,500-acre campus includes a variety of permanent structures, including a 44,000-square foot Event Center, an impressive Main Grandstand with hospitality suites and the Velocity Lounge, a 270,000-square foot Paddock Building with 34 garages, and an iconic 25-story Observation Tower at the heart of the facility. For more information and downloadable video and photos, visit: www.CircuitofTheAmericas.com, www.Austin360Amphitheater.com or COTA’s dedicated FTP site, media.circuitoftheamericas.com. Follow COTA on Facebook at www.facebook.com/CircuitofTheAmericas and Twitter @circuitamericas and @COTAmedia.

Jorge Lorenzo has been a force in MotoGP since his 2008 debut, becoming one of the most dominant Grand Prix riders in the paddock with his 2010 and 2012 MotoGP championship victories. Find out more about Jorge Lorenzo by checking out Motorcycle USA's Jorge Lorenzo page for career highlights, a complete bio, and racing pictures.

cggunnersmate
March 31, 2014 11:55 AM
And considering KS is doing more than any single person to promote motorcycle road racing in America (GP anyway) and considering the sad state of it in the US, take a look at AMA Road Racing, it's dying a slow agonizing death, we need all the help and promotion we can get.

The man loves the sport and you have to give him kudos for doing what he can to promote it.

And considering his family ran a Texas bike shop, I doubt his daddy was "rich" and being a 50 year old man I doubt he needed daddy's money or anyones to settle his own legal issues and if you've followed the story at all you'd know he had agreements for the rights to GP racing at COTA and got stalled by COTA until his contract with DORNA was up and then COTA negotiated directly with DORNA and cut KS out after he'd done all the leg work.

Yeah, total BS is right, just not in the way you mean.

moto-pat
March 31, 2014 08:06 AM
123123123:
I met Kevin after some races years ago at a pub and he took the time to chat with us sign autograph and even bought a round. He seemed to be a nice guy and a good ambassador for the sport. Guess you know him better than I.

cggunnersmate
March 31, 2014 07:02 AM
To thomboz:

Reports were the he had input in the design though I highly doubt he designed it himself, probably just some input in the layout, types of corners and mostly rider saftey concerns like runoff areas, barriers etc.

123123123: I can only assume you're either a die hard Rainey fan (you do know they're friends and have been for years right?) or you got stiffed on an autograph or something. I don't think I've ever heard anyone have anything bad to say about him.. Take a pill.

moto-pat
March 28, 2014 06:52 AM
Funny how they went from banning him from COTA property to praising how great he is. Typical for MotoGP. It was crazy that his ranch is an hour from here but he could go to the track. Anyway it's good he is back.

thomboz
March 27, 2014 02:08 PM
It would be interesting to get some of the 'down & dirty' of the Cota/Kevin resolution. It looked really nasty a few years ago. We're wondering stuff like: did it go to court, who won, what was the settlement, was anyone fired, etc...?
I'm glad Kevin is back in the mix, didn't he design the track?

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